Chapter One

The Mysterious Girl

It was a surprisingly calm night in the city of Meridian. The full moon shone brightly, silhouetting the giant castle and the tiny village buildings. It was a warm night with a cool breeze every now and then. There was no screams of children, no arguing amongst adults, no clatter of horses hooves, only silence. It was the perfect night. This would not last however. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a piercing scream rang throughout the city, followed by a bloodcurdling howl. Candles were lit in every window and people rushed to the scene. They crowded around a spot in the middle of the road and whispers and sobs started amongst them. A carriage pulled up beside the crowd and a man in police attire stepped out, making his way through the crowd.

"Step away! Police coming through!" he shouted as he shoved people out of the way.

He made it to the scene, and his face grew pale. There before him was a man, a dead man to be exact, laying in the street. He had a smoking hunting-gun clenched in his fist, but it looked like it didn't do him much help. His throat had been torn open and blood continued to pour out from the gash, along with other wounds on his body, his eyes were glazed over in shock and terror. The policeman shook off the disgust and turned to his two witnesses, a young man and a girl. The girl was crying hysterically into the boy's shoulder as he tried his best to comfort her. The policeman stepped in front of the two.

"Did you see what happened here?" he asked the young man. The boy gulped and spoke.

"O-our dad was out checking t-to see if there had been another animal g-getting into the garden in the back, b-because we heard noises outside." The boy's voice was shaky and fearful.

"Go on." The policeman took in every detail. The boy struggled to continue.

"Me and my sister here were watching from the window, a-and in the garden was this b-big, wolf d-digging up our vegetables. Dad s-shot at it and missed, s-so the wolf went after him. He got t-to the street and shot at it again, he got it in the l-leg that time, but it attacked him." the girl stopped crying and spoke.

"We looked out of the door window and we saw it. It was bigger than any regular wolf I've ever seen! It stood on its back-legs a-and was white with piercing red eyes! It w-was a werewolf! I swear! It attacked Daddy and...and..." she went back to crying into her brother's shoulder, unable to go on.

Murmurs started up amongst the crowd again. The policeman wrote everything down on his notepad. "Thank you children." he muttered and turned his back on them. He turned to the crowd.

"Alright folks, nothing to see here, all of you return to your homes, the police will search into this as much as we can!" The crowd turned and headed home, whispering to each other along the way.

The policeman got back into his carriage and took off. His face was as white as a sheet. He looked over his notes again. He couldn't believe it! There was a werewolf in Meridian!

I have to tell Lord Cedric about this...he thought as the carriage took him back to the castle.

Meanwhile, in another part of town, a woman limped through the dark alleyways. She came out of the shadows and into the candlelight of another house. She was dressed in a ragged dress and no shoes. Her platinum blonde hair reached her shoulders and her emerald eyes searched around frantically and were full of pain. She gripped her leg as she limped off. Fresh blood ran down a wound in her thigh and partially down a graze in her shoulder. Her dress also had splotches of blood on it. She came to rest in an alleyway behind a wooden staircase. She lay there in pain and confusion. Clouds started gathering.

What happened? She thought as she gripped her leg. She thought back to try and remember why she was in pain.

Flashback

She was sitting on the rooftop of a house, silhouetted by the moon. She was staring down at a little garden. She licked her lips, she hadn't eaten in about a week and she was starving. She climbed down to the garden and started to pull out some carrots. She froze and stared at the moon. She felt her body shudder in pain and suddenly she blacked out.

When she woke up, she was limping down the road, her entire leg was racked in pain and she couldn't stop.

End Flashback

It was starting to rain. She got up and limped off to find shelter. The thunder boomed and the lightning flashed and she was soaked. She was losing blood and fast, her vision was blurring. She kept going, hoping to find shelter before she blacked out. She saw a big shadow in front of her. She couldn't tell whether it was the castle or a really big house. She made it to the big wooden door and leaned against it, she couldn't go on. With all her strength, she proceeded to bang on the door. She cried out.

"Please help! Open the door!" she continued to shout. "Sanctuary!" she slid down to the ground and fell over. She stared up as the blurry door opened and she saw someone with blonde hair in a ponytail. She tried to speak but she finally slipped into unconsciousness.